The Interstitial Cell in the Testis of the Foetal Sheep

The testes of 18 foetal sheep, of crown-rump length from 2·8 to 40 cm, have been studied by the PAS, Sudan black, and plasmal tests. Typical interstitial cells differentiate from mesenchymal precursors; the nucleus alters first, becoming ovoid and vesicular; then the cytoplasm increases in amount, its processes become fewer and smaller, sudanophil lipid droplets appear, and the result is a lipid-laden epithelioid cell. Two atypical forms of interstitial cell have been noted: the first has groups of eosinophil granules in its cytoplasm, the second is shrunken and has a pycnotic nucleus. The interstitial cell of foetal sheep, unlike that of poikilotherms, contains no glycogen. The PAS-positive polysaccharide / protein granules found in the interstitial cells of adult homiotherms are absent from the interstitial cells of this foetal homiotherm. While sudanophil lipids appear at an early stage, Schiff-positive lipids (plasmalogens, acetal phosphatides, and possibly steroids) are entirely absent from the interstitial cells of the foetal sheep.